"This is..."
Erica and Liliana stared at the objects in Phoenix's hand, unable to suppress a slight surprise.
These were three crystal-like cards, each featuring a beautiful young girl. They were the same person, but her poses differed slightly.
The girl appeared strikingly beautiful, with long purple hair tied in a single ponytail. Her attire was incredibly seductive, except... her underwear was exposed.
"This is... Stigmata?"
Erica looked at the Stigmata chips before her in disbelief.
"Correct! This is Stigmata! Within this set lies the power of a formidable warrior named [Hannah], embodied by the young girl depicted on this chip."
"By inheriting the Stigmata, one can obtain [Hannah]'s power, granting the successor an instantaneous and dramatic enhancement of their capabilities."
Phoenix held the [Hannah] Stigmata set in her hand as she calmly addressed the two girls before her.
"Hannah..."
"Hannah who? There seem to be quite a few people named Hannah..." After hearing Phoenix's explanation, Erica and Liliana pondered but remained unaware of who Hannah might be.
"Of course you wouldn't recognize her, but... many people fear Hannah, dreading her very presence."
"Is Hannah that powerful?"
Erica gazed curiously at the Stigmata in Phoenix's hand.
"Alright, I'm going to start equipping you with Stigmata now. Erica, come here."
Phoenix didn't answer Erica directly but instead motioned for the Italian young girl to approach her.
"Yes, Your Highness." Erica immediately moved to Phoenix's side.
"Take off your clothes!"
"...Yes."
After a moment's hesitation, Erica glanced at Phoenix and Liliana behind her before removing her nightgown.
Since it was a set, when Erica took off her nightgown, she was essentially left with nothing on.
Looking at Erica's body before her, Phoenix couldn't help but steal a few extra glances.
"Turn away from me..." Phoenix said to Erica, her gaze averted as she composed herself.
"Yes." Erica replied with a smile. How could she have missed Phoenix's lingering glance? It seemed her charm remained potent even in the face of such divine beauty.
Even the peerless "Queen" herself had fallen under Phoenix's spell—a promising sign indeed.
As Erica turned to face away, her exquisite back on full display, Phoenix wasted no time. She began equipping the Stigmata without hesitation.
The set of [ Hannah ] Stigmata dissolved into three exquisite red patterns that materialized across Erica's back in moments.
"All set! How do you feel now, Erica?" Phoenix withdrew her hands and asked.
"Strength... I feel like I'm overflowing with power. It's as if... I could defeat three of my previous selves at once..."
Erica rose and began pacing. Her movements carried newfound grace and speed—her steps were noticeably quicker than before. Though she couldn't quantify it, the surge in physical strength felt exponentially greater than her previous capabilities.
"Alright, try to adapt to your current power as much as you can... Once you do, your strength will at least double."
Phoenix nodded at these words. It seemed that the optimized Stigmata and weapons in her inventory could indeed unleash their full potential.
Although [ Hannah ] was merely the most annoying of the Stigmata, outside the game, its effects proved truly formidable.
The basic enhancements alone—additional health, critical hit chance, and attack power—had already boosted Erica's capabilities by over half. Moreover, each Stigma's percentage-based damage increase, combined with the fifteen percent speed boost from the set bonus...
All these enhancements scaled proportionally with one's base strength. This meant the stronger you became, the greater the benefits grew.
A single [ Hannah ] alone could more than double the power of this Italian prodigy magician.
Of course, the [ Hannah ] Phoenix had given Erica was a three-star enhanced version, not the unrefined two-star variant.
The two-star version's attribute bonuses were simply too modest.
"Next is Liliana. It's your turn!"
Phoenix watched as Erica dressed herself, then immediately averted her gaze to look at another powerful knight girl.
Compared to Erica, Liliana was undoubtedly more reserved. Liliana's personality... well, let's just say she presented herself impeccably in public.
In truth, she was a repressed romantic - her novels made that abundantly clear.
"Yes, Your Majesty!"
Liliana heard Phoenix's voice. Having witnessed how Erica had improved her strength, she naturally said nothing. Besides... there were no men here, so even if "the King" preferred women...
So Liliana directly removed her nightgown and walked up to Phoenix.
But when Liliana saw the Stigmata Phoenix produced again, she couldn't help but wonder, "Your Majesty, this Stigmata is different from Erica's..."
If Hannah's appearance clearly showed a beautiful woman, then the pattern on the Stigmata Phoenix now held revealed neither male nor female characteristics.
"Mm, but the difference isn't that significant."
The three-star Hannah Stigmata... Phoenix didn't have two sets, and giving Liliana a two-star Stigmata seemed inappropriate. So she switched to the Sakamoto Ryoma set instead.
The three-star Sakamoto Ryoma... From its attributes, it was clear that Ryoma's capabilities were slightly better than Hannah's.
Not only did it add health, attack, and critical hit chance, but it also provided substantial defense and 15% immunity to negative effects.
Compared to Hannah, Sakamoto Ryoma was much more durable.
When Phoenix equipped the Sakamoto Ryoma Stigmata on Liliana's back, Liliana immediately felt the power flowing from the Stigmata. She perked up with delight.
Her strength had doubled with such ease.
After all, the Stigmata's attribute bonuses weren't just applied to their base stats. They also provided percentage increases to their magic power and damage output.
This was the true power of Stigmata - they never became obsolete.
No matter how strong a user became, the Stigmata's benefits always scaled proportionally. This was the perverse genius of Honkai Stigmata.